Fully reconfigurable coupled ring resonator-based bandpass filter for microwave signal processing

We propose and demonstrate an integrated coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW)-based bandpass filter in TriPleX™ technology for microwave photonic signal processing. The system principle allows the selection of a channel in a dense-frequency-division subcarrier satellite communication system. Using tunable phase shifters for each resonator and tunable power couplers, every time a power coupler is needed, is possible to achieve full programmability and full reconfigurability for the realized device. These characteristics allow a center frequency tunability over a full free spectral range (FSR) and a bandwidth tunability, which can be as small as tens of MHz. Furthermore, the device can be easily integrated with other functional building blocks in photonic integrated circuits to realize an on-chip complex microwave photonic signal processor.